In the area of law enforcement, police and other law enforcement officers are commonly required to stop and question motorists. Frequently, these traffics stops occur on the side of the road. During a traffic stop, there is a possibility that a motorist may attempt to flee causing the officer to pursue the fleeing vehicle at high speeds. Such incidents cause injuries to law enforcement officers and damage to law enforcement vehicles due to collisions caused by high speed chases. Additionally, the fleeing vehicle may harm individuals and property not involved in the traffic stop. Law enforcement agencies may be required to bear the costs of workers' compensation claims, personal injury and other lawsuits against the law enforcement agency, and insurance claims resulting from vehicle damage. Therefore, a means for deterring a detained motorist from fleeing the scene is desired. One such means possesses a mechanism for deflating vehicle tires of a fleeing motorist in order to prevent the motorist from achieving high speeds and prevent injury and or death to innocent bystanders.
The utility patents U.S. Pat. No. 5,482,397 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,704,445 issued to Soleau and Jones respectively, disclose a tire deflator including a spike secured to a support mechanism such that upon contact with a tire of a moving vehicle the spike penetrates the tire causing rapid air depletion. However, Soleau and Jones lack a means for positioning the apparatus on either side of the tire. Additionally, Soleau and Jones require the user to position the chocks underneath the vehicle wheel by hand, causing law enforcement officers to be vulnerable to injury if the vehicle moves. Therefore, an apparatus is needed that is easily positioned on a vehicle tire without exposing a user's body to possible harm.
The Soleau and Jones patents also fail to include a mechanism for protecting users from the disclosed spikes during placement and while the apparatuses are not in use. Therefore, an apparatus is needed that protects individuals from injury caused by inadvertent contact with deflating spikes.
The utility patent U.S. Pat. No. 5,689,981 issued to DeLuca et al. discloses an anti-theft vehicle wheel lock wherein a chock is positioned against a vehicle tire coupled with a bar on the opposing side securing the chock in place. Furthermore, a lock prevents movement of the chock and opposing bar, and a handle extends upward facilitating placement of the device. However, DeLuca et al. only is effective when locked into place, which takes time, and has no effect to prevent a high speed chase such as deflating vehicle tires. Therefore, an apparatus is needed that is easily placed and may be used in an unlocked position in order to prevent a vehicle from achieving high speeds.
For these reasons, in order to prevent high-speed pursuits and theft, a deflating apparatus is needed that is easily placed, without exposing a user's body to harm.